Palace of Thalion
The palace of Thalion', on the southern edge of Metraith, was long the favored residence of the Kings of Cardolan. Thorondur chose it as his capital upon the division of Arnor, and, when one of his lieutenants complained that the location was indefensible, Thorondur proclaimed that he would need no defenses. This boast did not long survive the first King of Cardolan—Thalion was captured and ransomed by Arthadan forces during the Twelve Years War. Since that defeat, the palace had fallen fourteen times and been looted five times, the last time during the insurrection in Feotar.After the Princes of Dol Tinare had been burnt out of their more secure keeps, they hoped to rebuild Thalion to its former glory. Thalion about T.A.1640 First Floor I. Throne Room. Not as gaudy as it might be. The throne is on the raised dais at the south end; the curtained rooms just behind it allow the ruler to make a dignified entrance through the secret doors from the main hall (#7). Four men are on duty at each of the two entrances. 2. Guardrooms. Six men are on duty in each room. The staircases on either side lead down to the ground floor, the main guard barracks, and the dungeon. 3. Bureaucratic Offices. Few of these officials actually live in the palace, but they occasionally "sleep in" on a couch to be sure that someone can respond to the wishes of their ruler. 4. Audience Chamber. Much of the daily business of the Tinare is conducted here. Lord Barahir Tinare spends most of his day in this room. 5. Hallways. Staircases lead down to the kitchens and servant quarters. Guards are posted at the turn of each hall. 6. Grand Dining Hall. State dinners are held here. 7. Main Hall. Ceremonies and dances are few since the plague. The antechamber on the north side of the hall was used by the King dressing for ceremonies in the throne room and also by musicians and actors preparing to entertain in the hall. 8. Guard Officers' Quarters. Some wives and children may be found here. 9. Captain of the Guard's Quarters. 10. Secret Passages. Neither one stops on this floor. Second Floor The War has left the palace somewhat desolate. Three of the Tinare have apartments on the second floor, but two of them are away on campaign. This leaves Lord Barahir, two of his servants, and Lord Celedur's mistress as the only current residents. I. Stairs. Ascend from #7 on the first floor. 2. Upper Hall Great arches support a dome of stained glass and steel that pours light into the hall. Paintings, tapestries, and sculpture adorn the hallway; they don't equal the quality the past. 3. Balcony. The Princes may sit here in comfortable isolation and look down on revelers below. A command changes the alignment of the glass overhead and the lighting on the dance floor. Unknown to most, anyone standing or sitting on this balcony gains to listen to any conversation in either the upper or lower hall. 4. Entry to the Queen's Suite. One guard on duty. 5. Secret Door. Access to the watch rooms (at #7). All the guards know about it, and therefore so do the palace staff. 6. Entry to the King's Suite. One guard on duty. 7. Watchrooms. Two guards in each. Unoccupied if no one in residence in the royal suite. 8. King's Office. Now called the "Prince's Day Room" and used by Hallas for business and entertainment. 9. Prince's Library/Den. A coffer full of important documents is built into a compartment beneath the desk; it is impossible to find unless one moves both the desk and the rug under it. Hallas is too weak to do this himself. The lock is absurd to pick. It was made by Dwarves of Khazad-dum; the metal itself is impregnated with a paralysis poison. The one key, hanging on a chain around Hallas' neck, is impregnated with the antidote. 10. Closets. The secret doors connect to passages and stairs leading to the dungeons and escape tunnels. The closet in the royal bedroom has a secret compartment that is only Sheer Folly to locate. It holds 100 mp, 800 gp, and jewelry worth 1,200 gp. This is the family's reserve treasure; the rest of its wealth is invested in business and property in Tharbad. Only Hallas and his grandson Faradil know that these assets have been used as collateral for loans to finance the war against the Warlord. 11. Royal Nursery. With the privy chamber (at # 12), the nursery is being prepared as a suite for the use of Loranna, Hallas' great-granddaughter. She is currently living in Arthedain. 12 Queen's Privy Chamber. Under construction. One of the carpenters has discovered the secret doors in the adjacent closets, but is unsure to whom he should sell the information. 13. Royal Bedroom. Prepared for a very sick, aged Prince. Hallas usually spends his days here, his older servants tending him. Since he departed on campaign, the guards are lax, and younger servants have been using the room as a trysting place. Built into the chamber pot under the bed are herbs and alchemical agents that allow the dark priest Tarmoresar the Unseen (a minion of the Witch-king) to cast enchantments into the room from a secret location in a cemetery a mile southwest of the palace. The Angmarean sorcerer intends to use the pot as a focus for a spell that will imprison Hallas' spirit upon his long-anticipated death. 14. Storage Room. The secret door provides access to the guard rooms. 15. Lord Celedur's Suite. Currently out on campaign. He is a widower, but his very young and very common mistress, Tempi, has the use of these chambers as long as she remains inconspicuous. Only a few of the servants will speak with her, but she is learning quality manners from one of the older ones and befriending some of the guards to ease her loneliness. 16. Lord Barahir's Suite. Bitter over the loss of his wife and child to the plague, he has become absolutely grim since Hallas joined the Tinare army in the field and ordered him to stay at the palace to organize supply. Barahir's chambers are maintained as though his family were still alive. His personal servants, a married couple, sleep in the east room, and a guard stands at the doorway to his day room. The secret exit from his bedroom, at the west end of the suite, is one-way out into the hall. 17. Four Additional Suites. They were used for common rooms and additional family in happier days. Currently none are occupied, and their furnishings seem incomplete; various objects have been stolen or removed to decorate other parts of the palace. Egale, the chief cook's daughter, has copied a master key to these suites and plays in them with her friends. Tempi, Celedur's mistress, has befriended the children. An Angmarean spy planted among the kitchen staff is just beginning to understand this situation and hopes to use it to his advantage. 18. Doctor's Suite. Lengha, Hallas' physician, dwells here along with a servant. Both are with the Prince and the army. Under Lengha's bed rest three brand new chamber pots, matching one currently in Hallas' bedroom (see #13, above). Lengha, who has served the Tinare for thirty years, cut a deal with a mysterious personage to betray them. He expects to receive enough money to buy his way to Gondor. Egale the chief cook's daughter, has discovered these pots and does not yet understand their meaning; she may someday describe them to that old traveling conjurer, Gandalf the Grey. Her mother knows him well and claims he knows "a little bit about everything." Cellars I. Stairs. Descend from halls on first floor (#5). 2. Kitchens. 3. Storage. Primarily foods. 4. Cold Storage. Magical mechanisms; no one is sure how these work, but they are useful. Among the sides of beef and mutton hung here is the burlap-covered body of a servant who mysteriously disappeared three months ago. The second cook murdered him to keep the clod away from his wife; now he doesn't know how to get rid of the corpse with a cleaver-shaped hole in its chest. 5. Tunnel Access to the main servant quarters. Two guards are posted; doors closed after dinner unless there is a major party upstairs. Wheel on the wall opposite staircase rolls a portcullis and steel door across the passage in emergencies. 6. Palace Servant Quarters. These are the more trusted servants, usually waiting directly on the palace residents. 7. Servants' Day Room. 8. Chief Cook's Room. 9. Palace Steward's Quarters. 10. Guard Quarters. 11. Armory. Thalion, cellars 12. Guards' Drill Room. Used as a dance hall by the staff. A grate in the floor drains down past the laboratory. 13. Stairs to the First Floor. Closed and locked doors also lead to the dungeons, but no one speaks of them. 14. Secret Passages. They do not have access to this level. Dungeon Level I. Dungeon Entryways. The western one has a table and chairs, but these are unused. Thalion was never supposed to need a dungeon, but one was eventually built for political prisoners of special interest to the rulers. 2. Small Dungeon Cells. All locks are of average difficulty to open. a. Well-furnished Cell. Appointed for prisoners of rank. A magically glowing stone in the ceiling provides light, while another in the wall generates sounds of the countryside in spring upon command. The fancy trappings are showing the effects of mold and mice. b. Cell. Can hold three prisoners; currently empty. c. Cell. Can accommodate three prisoners. Its floor is littered with old chains and manacles left behind after the mass executions following a civil war. Anyone poking among them discovers a a set painted jet black. Under the paint is a mithril alloy, enchanted and capable of holding a Demon or undead. The manacles are worth 400 gp. d. Cell. Can accommodate three prisoners; moldering remains lie along the south wall. The wretched, chained corpse is actually a clever construct. A historical Perception roll reveals that the "corpse's" clothing is four hundred years out of date. If commanded, the construct rolls over and unmasks the secret door leading to the escape passage (at #7). 3. Large Common Cells. Manacles every three feet along the walls, and oubliettes (covered pit cells) in the floor. a. Cell. No prisoners, but one of the two pits in the floor makes noises as if occupied. When the lid is lifted, a puddle of twitching slime at the bottom rustles and mews. b. Cell Three prisoners captured in Tharbad are kept here. Two are assassins, one slick enough to claim he was framed. The third prisoner, Grethor, is a rabble-rousing republican ally of Feotar and the Laborers' Guild. The guild would pay 20 gp for his return and raise a political storm if they knew where he was. Grethor has to be careful about trying too hard to escape, because Lord Barahir would consider having him "disappear" to avoid trouble. One of the four oubliettes emits scratching noises occasionally. Lifting the lid reveals a layer of stone slabs, carefully sealed with mortar. A warning sigil on the stone conveys a feeling of alarm to persons inspecting this seal. Three mannish victims of magical experiments were thrown in here generations ago, poisoned by a process similar to that used on the door-guard in another cell (#2d). The "animates" that resulted from the poisoning resemble deformed humans. One of them wears jewelry and rotted silks indicating a relationship to the Cardolandren royal family. All are quite active and effectively insane. If released, the animates will kill everyone within reach and then wander about the palace, performing random acts that mimic the daily routines of their victims. 4. Interrogation Room Half the torture equipment has been used recently, while half rusts. The Tinare don't like to admit they use this room, and hence do not clean it regularly. 5. Old Magical Laboratories. Another set of rooms no one admits to, since "proper" magic in Arnor traditionally is done in high towers where the stars can be observed and consulted. The alchemy and summonings performed here produced the animated flesh in the cells (#2d and #3b). a. Magicians's Room. Looted long ago. Nothing remains save broken tables and iron brace-work, a fireplace and brick oven, and bits of shattered glass. Magical phrases are inscribed on the wall. One of them generates a Sleep spell, cast on whomever in the room the reader concentrates on. Another suspends articles of clothing in mid-air. A third phrase scrapes the surface grime off the floor in the middle of the room to reveal a complex magic circle. Any spell cast from it has 10 times its normal range and duration. A few hours study of the runes inscribed here adds to a magician's chance of learning his next spell list. Leb, the animate child from the next room (#2b), likes to play hop-skotch on the circle; doing so conjures up pleasant visions of the worlds outside Thalion palace. b. Chanting and Reading Room. Some old furniture, lanterns with herb-burning attachments, shelves, a cot, rugs and pentagram on the floor, and a fireplace before which rest a silver teapot and serving trays (worth 10 gp). The few tomes left are not greatly useful, but a careful reading (1-3 hours) gives a rough guide to the story of the animates and how they may be slain. More intriguingly, a pile of rags under the cot is not as old the rest of the furnishings. Leb, a child turned into an animate, lives here. He can crawl up a ventilation shaft over the fireplace to reach the ground floor (#12, above) and explore the palace during the night. He has gray, distorted features, dead, cold flesh, and ape-like movements that would terrify most people. However, Leb is quite harmless, unless frightened into biting someone. He maintains, after centuries of haunting Thalion Palace, a strange air of childish innocence, and he can be befriended. 6. Trysting Chamber. Carefully maintained, still used by the Tinare and their secret lovers. Well appointed in silks an tapestries, magically warmed, it stores music within its walls and re-plays it upon command up to a month later. Unfortunately, there is a chance that the room will store conversation, and a chance that it will play a dialogue back for one who is sincerely interested. a. Changing and Storage Room. Supplies the trysting chamber. The finest collection of wines and silken bedclothes in Cardolan. A selection of stimulant herbs is also stored here, in a Hard to find wall compartment. 7. Escape Tunnel. Leads almost a mile underground to a cemetery set in a rocky bluff. The rock covering the outer opening has not been moved in a century, and consequently is undetectable. Only hard work with the lever on the tunnel side of the rock moves it enough to allow an exit. The chamber near the palace end of the tunnel contains clothing suitable for disguising escapees. A pair of boots next to it can cast the spells Hues or Silent Moves 3 times per day. 8. Vaults. Doors are Sheer Folly to open, as well as requiring a special lever or Strength bonuses to work their mechanisms. Aside from shelves and 1,600 gp worth of cumbersome artwork, the vaults are empty. The Tinare are virtually bankrupt; they still have some reserves of coin and gold hidden in Khazad-dum, but all the metal normally kept here is traveling with Prince Hallas. Inhabitants Barahir o Tinare Celedur o Tinare Egale Faradil o Tinare Gandalf Grethor Hallas o Tinare Leb Lengha Loranna Tarmoresar the Unseen Tempi References *MERP:Arnor Category:Fortress Category:Tower Category:Cardolan